The Friday night offering in the Championship this week features this upcoming clash between Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town at St Andrews with both teams keen to post their first win of this new English second tier season.
Birmingham City grabbed a solid point in a 0-0 draw away from home at least season’s play-off participants, Luton Town, at Kenilworth Road and together with a clean sheet, that would have pleased Birmingham’s new manager, John Eustace, as he looks to steer his side away from the relegation zone this season.
Gearing up for #BIRHUD! ⚙️ pic.twitter.com/Pa6VJ4H3nT— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) August 4, 2022
Gearing up for #BIRHUD! ⚙️ pic.twitter.com/Pa6VJ4H3nT
Birmingham are amongst the favourites for relegation this season and indeed, The Blues have now failed to win any of their last seven matches in the Championship, while the bigger picture shows the hosts have managed to pick up just one win from their last 11 matches overall.
Eustace will also be keenly aware that his side have managed just one home win in seven games at St Andrews, which came in the form of a 1-0 victory over west midlands rivals, West Brom, but his side have won just one of the previous eight meetings against Huddersfield Town.
Huddersfield Town found themselves just 90 minutes away from what would have been an unexpected return to the Premier League after achieving an excellent 3rd place finish in last season’s Championship campaign, only for The Terriers to lose 1-0 to eventually promoted, Nottingham Forest, in the play-off final.
Huddersfield were unable to shake off last season’s play-off disappointment in last week’s season-opener at home against newly relegated Burnley as The Terriers suffered a 1-0 defeat to The Clarets at their John Smith’s Stadium.
However, the Yorkshire visitors will be looking to draw upon the sort of form which saw them claim a place in last season’s play-offs on Friday night after putting together a solid looking seven-match unbeaten run prior to their play-off semi-final against Luton Town.
Six wins within this seven-game sequence included wins at Hull City, Middlesbrough and Coventry City, and these victories should give Huddersfield belief in gaining a result in the west midlands on Friday night.
Amidst an anticipated takeover, Birmingham City have failed to convince at home for some time and this gives Huddersfield Town a decent chance of at least a point here in what could prove to be a low-scoring encounter.